Police officer killed - 1917
Being an amateur genealogist, I ordered a death certificate for my wife’s Great-Grandfather, to see if it would list his parents’ names.
It didn’t, but I noticed the informant for the information given was a Mary Diamond.
In 1920, Mary was the landlady of the place on Chene St. where my wife’s Grandfather and his brother lived after they were discharged from the army after World War 1. She was also their sister.
It turns out in 1917 her husband Richard Diamond had given up his job at Ford in Highland Park to become a Detroit Policeman. Poor guy was killed on his first night on the beat on Franklin near McDougall when he and his partner, who was a cadet officer himself but who had a gun, chased some men who they were told were armed. He hadn’t taken the oath of service yet, so his wife and two small children were ineligible for police insurance. The kicker – he was shot by his partner, who had told him to take cover and as he was chasing the suspects, turned and fired at Diamond who was running behind him, thinking he was another suspect.
I just wanted to share this with those who are interested in history and since I went to the trouble to look up the old newspaper story.
